To be perfectly honest, parts of speech is not my favorite thing to teach. It doesn't even make my top ten list. However, it's still a part of our language arts standards, so it's not something I can skip or ignore. Instead, I've tried to make the best of grammar instruction by

Here's a little secret....Chris Van Allsburg books had to grow on me. The first few times I read one of his books, I thought they were a little too strange. It just wasn't for me. However, I finally realized I had fallen into a genre rut. I was reading the same style of book

With all the craziness of the past two years, I almost forgot about the Winter Olympics. I absolutely love all things related to the Olympics and love incorporating them into my instruction. One of my favorite resources is my Winter Olympics Close Reading packet. When I

Most upper elementary students love writing fictional narratives. They get to let their creative juices flow and have fun with writing. However, this may be the most challenging writing genre for students. Even though fictional narratives are "fun" they require considerable

First Chapter Friday is one of those ideas that checks all the boxes. Easy to implement No prep Students love it It gets kids reading First Chapter Friday is an easy way to introduce new books to your students and to encourage independent reading. Truthfully, it